Ride Wide

 For years as well as quite a bit of late, I've conversed with others about the "responsibility" of people on bikes to make themselves visible.  For the most part, I and the people with whom I've talked have agreed, bicycle riders are not the ones using 3,000 pounds, or often more, of metal, rubber, and plastic to move around an average of 170 pounds of flesh at high speed, so we are not the ones creating a dangerous situation, and therefore, not the ones with a "responsibility".  It is the car driver who creates the dangerous situation and bears the responsibility to have full awareness of their environment.  To say the bike riders need to make themselves "visible enough" is to transfer blame to the victim, or as one commenter once so aptly said, it is like blaming a rape victim for taking the wrong route home in too short a skirt.  No, the aggressors earn the blame.

But still, since my accident, while I deny a "responsibility", I have been trying to tilt the odds of being seen in my favor, or as I've taking to saying, "The brain injury hasn't made me any smarter, but I am noticeably brighter," at which time, I point out my hi-viz vest.  In the same mindset, I've also readopted an old device of mine which first came into existence after CT passed the 3ft passing margin for bicycles and pedestrians: I now ride with a stick sticking about two feet out from my left side of the bike, or as I'm inclined to say, I'm through playing nice about demanding my space on the road.  Of note, Massachusetts, where I live, has not passed a minimum passing distance, but there is no maximum width specifically for bicycles, so at less than four feet wide, I am well under the legal maximum of eight feet for non commercial vehicles which applies to me and my bike.  I am well within my rights.

While I was prepared for some backlash against my taking space on the road, I have been pleasantly surprised that the two feedback comments from motorists thus far have both been positive.  The first actually stopped on the side of the road, coincidentally about a 1/4 mile north of where I was hit, to say how terrific he thought the marker was.  It seems in addition to driving, he also rides horses and often has issues with vehicles not driven with enough space from his animal, so he was inspired to enact something similar for his type of riding.  The second was a town grounds maintenance  worker who also drives plow trucks in the winter, and he was very much in favor of anything that made it easier for him to spot and allow for other road users.  As for those who are too emotionally unsettled to pause, usually about 2 seconds, to allow for a safe passing opportunity, they are apparently in too much of a misguided rush to comment, so I am spared.

But sometimes, I suppose, a verbal comment is not needed to expose some drivers' lack of perspective on the value of a life versus a couple seconds when passing.  This past Sunday, I rode down to Connecticut to join my friend Marc Muldoon's memorial mountain bike ride in memory of Mike McCoy, a gent whom I never met, but was greatly appreciated by people I respect.  This joining had me pedaling 45 miles south (and then back north, which yay, I did!) to meet the group, and that distance makes for a lot of observing passing cars, even if I now gravitate to a slightly quieter route whenever possible. It is amazing, but unfortunately not at all shocking, the number of drivers who will cross the center line into oncoming traffic in order to pass my baton.  The idea of pausing to wait for a safe moment to pass does not seem to occur to them, and yes, that is very much the reason I will steadfastly stick with my wide marker, because I cannot rely on all (maybe 80% tops) motorists to make a safe choice.  Am I creating an unsafe situation? NO!  That responsibility goes to the unthinking driver in the 3,000+ vehicle.

So think about it and maybe decide that you too want to RIDE WIDE!